Rangefinder Magazine
December 2005

Click Here for printable version of this article.

Canon Australian Professional
Photography Awards 2005 Editorial Staff
Longest-running Photography Competition in Austrailia

For those not familiar with the AIPP, the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, AIPP, is a trade association primarily for commercial, wedding and portrait photographers but also open to people working in related industry services such as equipment suppliers, lab techs, studio managers and educators.

AIPP, a not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1963 with a mission similar to those of its international counterparts to promote and maintain the highest standards of professional competence and business ethics in the industry. To do this the AIPP maintains rigorous entry criteria and a binding code of ethics for its members. Additionally, it is a strong advocate for professional education, providing seminars, workshops, contests and bringing in international speakers for its approximately 1000 members. The underlying strength of AIPP is its network of volunteers at the national and state level.

In their 28th year, the Canon Australian Professional Photography Awards (APPA) are the longest running and most prestigious photography awards in Australia. It attracted over 1571 entries from which were awarded 502 Silvers (a score of 80 or above), 152 Silvers with Distinction (85 or higher), 35 Golds (90 or above) and five Golds with Distinction (95 or better). On the face of it, the judges were a little tougher this year, but the standard remains very impressive.

Brett Boardman The 2005 Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year Sponsored by Canon

The Canon APP Awards have several purposes. Initially, the Awards were introduced to educate a young profession. Photographers would enter their four best prints, and judges would comment on each image. Although the prints are judged anonymously, the photographer could sit in the audience and learn firsthand what other, generally more established, photographers thought about his or her work. If the judges thought it was of “Award” standard, they would score it 80 points (out of 100) or higher. Throughout the Canon APPA’s history, 80 points has been the benchmark against which photographers have measured themselves. In theory, it is every professional photographers objective to attain at least four Silver Awards each year, but for many this is an elusive achievement.

As time passed, entrants amassed Award points—one point for a Silver, two points for a Gold. By earning five Award points in four years, a photographer is entitled to become an Associate of the AIPP. Earn another 10 Award points within five years, and the photographer can become a Master of Photography. In this way, the Awards have become a process of achievement and Australia now has over 100 Masters of Photography.

Sydney photographer Brett Boardman is the 2005 Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year. His industrial/commercial entry of four stark, beautifully composed architectural studies, scooped a pool of high-quality entries from around the country. Presented in Brisbane last May, Brett took home a $20,000 Canon digital SLR outfit, featuring the latest Canon EOS 1D Mark II 8-megapixel digital SLR.

In the early 1990s, the APPA introduced a new level of involvement. In addition to being a system of advancement, big prizes were introduced for various categories, from which was chosen the major award, the Australian Professional Photographer of the Year. Today with so many highly accomplished photographers entering, the Awards have become a hotbed of competitiveness. Every decision is controversial because there is a such variety and scope within the profession itself, but at the end of each awards, the photographers can all sit down with a glass of smooth red (wine, that is) and iron out their differences. After all, it is all just a matter of opinion!

The Canon APP Awards are held over three judging days with two panels of five judges working long hours. A crew of workers (the APPA Events Team) labor tirelessly behind the scenes to make it all happen, and, since the judging is open to the public, there is invariably another crew of spectators eagerly waiting for the deliberations to be handed down. The images are judged anonymously—although it is quite usual for members of the audience to know the authors of a few prints. Often it is the photographers themselves sitting anxiously in the audience.

Alex Cowley The 2005 AIPP Australian Landscape Photographer of the Year Runner Up: Anna Bombardieri Sponsored by Hasselblad & C. R. Kennedy

The Professional Photographer of the Year is chosen from the eight category winners. This year, a group of 21 of our more senior, experienced and respected judges were asked if they were available to judge the PPY, and from their number, just 11 were drawn out of a hat to make the final deliberations. The judges represented all states, disciplines and both sexes. The process worked very well with the Boardman portfolio being selected as the clear winner on the first vote.

There were two new awards in 2005: the Photography Book Award, won by Jackie Ranken for her beautiful book of Aerial Abstracts, which she self-published with the assistance of Canon, and the Wedding Album of the Year Award. I don’t think winner Yervant Zanazanian will mind my saying he was neck and neck with runnerup Jerry Ghionis. Yervant and Jerry have been battling it out overseas at WPPI with the album awards for a couple of years now, so it wasn’t surprising to see them have a friendly competition back home as well!

In 2006 the Canon APPA will be held in Sydney as part of Photo Imaging World in Darling Harbour, April 28–30. All readers are invited to drop in and take a look. In the meantime, enjoy viewing the category winners from the 2005 Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards.

For more information, visit the AIPP’s awards site: www.aipp.com.au/aippappa. html

Charmaine Heyer The 2005 AIPP Australian Illustrative Photographer of the Year Runner Up: Vanessa Roget Sponsored by Imaging Solutions Australia

Peter Rossi The 2005 AIPP Australian Portrait Photographer of the Year Runner Up: Janet Craig Sponsored by Fujifilm

Denis Montalbetti (Montalbetti & Campbell) The 2005 AIPP Australian Advertising Photographer of the Year Runner Up: Urs Buhlman Sponsored by Kodak Professional	Chris Barry The 2005 AIPP Australian Biomedical / Scientific Photographer of the Year Runner Up: David Paul Sponsored by Foto Riesel and Auscape International

Denis Montalbetti (Montalbetti & Campbell) The 2005 AIPP Australian Advertising Photographer of the Year Runner Up: Urs Buhlman Sponsored by Kodak Professional	Chris Barry The 2005 AIPP Australian Biomedical / Scientific Photographer of the Year Runner Up: David Paul Sponsored by Foto Riesel and Auscape International

Luzette Donohue The 2005 AIPP Photo Illustrator of the Year Runner Up: Kelly Feil Sponsored by Corel

Damien Bredberg The 2005 AIPP Australian Editorial Photographer of the Year Runner Up: Stephen Jones Sponsored by CaptureOne	Yervant Zanazanian The 2005 AIPP Wedding Album of the Year Runner Up: Jerry Ghionis Sponsored by Albums Australia